Private Lives: The Silent Years Most of the Mistakes We Make with Our Teenage Children Are Inherited from Our Own Parents. Parenting Skills Are Learned, Not Instinctive. by Suzie Hayman

Hayman, Suzie, The Independent (London, England)

Forget the terrible twos, it's the terrible teens that really have the power to upset and confuse parents. And an unrelieved six weeks over the summer can really bring into focus the conflicts and difficulties so many of us have with them.

When my stepson was 18, for a period of around six months we hardly spoke. The relationship between him, his father and myself had been a bit sticky for some time, but it blew up into a major breach over (so we persuaded ourselves) his foolish behaviour and bad attitude. The argument was about his gap year. We had expected him to grasp this opportunity - the only time in his life when he would have 15 uncommitted months - to travel, as …

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Publication information: Article title: Private Lives: The Silent Years Most of the Mistakes We Make with Our Teenage Children Are Inherited from Our Own Parents. Parenting Skills Are Learned, Not Instinctive. by Suzie Hayman. Contributors: Hayman, Suzie - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: August 24, 1998. Page number: 8. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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